Alius Tempus
by Zimbing
Summary: Harper and Trance are on a mission together but what happens next niether could have predicted...*Chapter 6 up*
1. Chapter 1

Author: Zimbing  
Rating: PG-13 (at the mo, could very possibly change up to R)  
Spoilers: Umm suppose Ouroborus onwards  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not have anything to do with Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, absoulutely zilch, of course if I did there would be a heck of a lot more storylines involving Harper...  
Notes: Ok been meaning to write another fic for like ages so... was feeling a bit down today (exams coming up) and this idea suddenly popped into my head out of nowhere.   
Warning: I'm not the best writer and I know that, but I try my best :)  
P.S. Have no idea how this is gonna turn out.  
  
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Alius Tempus  
  
"Harper, not helping!" complained an exasperated Trance.  
  
For past two hours her and Harper had been traipsing along a barren rock plateau in search of a village that had issued a distress call. Only one problem. There was no village to be found.   
  
"Hmmm I recall saying 'I don't think this is a good idea' but does anyone listen to me? Of course not! I'm just Seamus Harper, genius extraordinary, here to save your butts from another mess you create! 'Hey Harper come on this mission, you've been moaning about wanting to go to a planet for ages now,' Not what I had in mind thank you very much!" Harper exclaimed, mostly to the wind as Trance was fed up of him.  
  
Squinting up at the blazing sun that was climbing higher into the sky with each passing minute, Harper sighed, and continued to drag his blistering feet through the dirt, cursing as he tripped over another rock.  
  
About 10 meters ahead of him, Trance pushed on. Gazing towards the horizon, she could see that there was nothing for miles. No cover or settlements. Nothing. It was already ninety degrees and the sun wasn't even fully up.   
  
"There has to be something here! Distress calls don't come from nothing." Thought a puzzled Trance.  
  
Two hours ago, Beka had dropped them off 2Km from where the village was seen on sensors, telling them that they would pick up them up in 3 days time as there were supplies to get and Andromeda was tending to something the Sabre Jaguar pride was pouting about.   
  
"Oww! Sonofa...!"   
  
Trance sighed.   
  
"What now Harper?" she replied turning around slowly to face him with an angry glint in her eye.  
  
"Just a stupid bug...its nothing!" He answered quickly with he saw her angry melt quickly and change to worry.  
  
Sighing again for what seemed the fortieth time, Harper marched onwards. Dressed only in a sleeveless t-shirt and trousers didn't seem to do anything to help in trying to cool down from the heat scorching his skin. Changing shoulders on his backpack didn't help either, the straps cutting into his skin like knifes, the sweat acting like acid, making the pain worse.  
  
"Could things be any more bad?" Harper questioned mentally to himself.  
  
Suddenly in front of him, Trance stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
"Umm Harper, do you feel that?" she asked anxiously.  
"Feel what?" he replied with a puzzled frown creasing his forehead.  
  
"I don't know, just little vib..." she retorted but was cut off as herself and Harper were thrown to the ground as an ear splitting roar erupted around them and the ground was ripped away from under them.  
  
Dust rose and engulfed the fallen pair like the hands of some horror monster only seen in movies. Rocks fell from the sky like sadistic rain drops, battering the coughing soles on the ground.  
  
Tremor after tremor convulsed through the rock like it was made of jelly. Crevasses yawned out like slashes being cut into the ground by some omnipotent torturer.  
  
"Trance!" Harper screamed till his throat was raw, dust clogged his lungs, burned his eyes and rocks hailing down upon him, assaulting his body.   
  
In return, all that could be seen was glimpses of gold and screams heard in the contorting wall of dust. Then it stopped.  
  
Below him, he could feel the surface disintegrate into rubble. He knew it was going to collapse any moment and he'd fall to his death but no matter how he tried, every little movement caused searing hot pain to shoot through his body and screams of agony to burst forth from his mouth.  
  
But it was too late. There was nothing below him now. Falling, nothing to stop him, falling till blissful darkness encompassed him.  
  
TBC... 


	2. Chapter 2

Ahem...sorry^100 for not updating sooner.  
  
  
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Chapter 2  
  
Fingers of rock protruded from the surface reaching for the heavens, all the while trying to escape their dark kingdom. Whereas others plunged down into the darkness of oblivion, reaching further than the eye could see into the fireball core of this desolate rock.   
  
For miles, dust swirled majestically through the scorched dry air, taking the form of dancing apparitions skipping round the three witches' cauldron. The cauldron in this case being two souls lying still, no shiver or twitch, on the barren earth, red and gold spreading outwards from them...  
  
  
  
*************  
  
  
  
  
Darkness encompassed Trance's mind. The feeling loneliness engulfed her, but a feeling of floating brought peace and put to rest her fears.   
  
However, a small speck of light was growing and expanding to her right, although she couldn't really tell, as she had no feeling of what was up or down. The light grew in radiance, expanding in every direction, then stopped. She tried to move, do something, but nothing worked. The light sat like it was taunting and ridiculing her. She stared back into its blinding depths. All of a sudden, it turned crimson, taking the form of a figure. Black hole eyes took shape where its head would be. Trance could do nothing, frozen in ice-cold fear that clung and grasped at her. She stared into her nemesis's eyes. Then the demon reached a blood stained hand out towards her, placing it upon her forehead. Agonizing pain coursed through every sense she had, torturing every fibre of her being, screaming till her throat was raw, but it wouldn't stop...  
  
She bolted up right, gasping painful raw breaths, and a terrified scream dieing in her throat. Eyes darted around looking for any sign of Him, but all that greeted her was a dead landscape. Sighing in relief and while trying to calm her breathing, 'I hate it when I die,' she mused to herself.  
  
Then she remembered how she got into the predicament, and terror slammed into her once again. Memories of being thrown through the air like one of Harper's empty cola cans assaulted her mind.  
  
Trance's breathing stop. Harper. There was no sight or sounds from him. And when that happened, it was never a good sign.  
  
"Harper?!" she called out, her voice cracking as it felt like someone had taken a nano-wielder to her throat.  
  
Trance waited anxiously but the only reply was silence. 'I never liked silence, usually means something bad is going to happen,' she thought to herself.  
  
Seeing there was no other option but to look for him - perhaps a gruesome task depending on what she found - she checked herself over. Considering what she had been through, she was quite amazed to find only scrapes and bumps.  
  
Trance slowly got to her feet, her back groaning a little in protest to the movement. Once up, she got a better look at her new surroundings. The once flat endless plain was now full of jagged cliffs and gaping holes, and boulders littered the ground. Tiny particles of dirt blowing in the strengthen wind felt like tiny but painful bites against her face and bare arms.  
  
Looking around, there was no sign of Harper. To her left there was a large gathering of rocks, ranging in sizes. Glancing to that area, a knot grew heavy in her stomach and she had a strong feeling that she'd unfortunately find Harper there.  
  
Slowly moving towards that area, her instincts grew stronger within her. Bracing herself she took the final steps towards her destination. Looking down, there was a dribble of blood at her foot. Lifting her eyes a bit, there he was.   
  
Trance's eyes grew wide and a hand shot to her mouth as she gasped, trying hard to keep the nausea that threatened to overcome her, at bay. Looking down at Harper, she knew in her heart that there was no way he could have survived.  
  
  
  
TBC...  
  
  
  
  
I know its really short but i thought I may as well give you something and I'm already working on the next part :) 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Disclaimer as first chapter   
  
Notes: ok don't like this chapter a great deal, its ok but not my best in my opinion. Trin forced me to write it though so here it is. Oh yeah, injuries described in this chapter so if you're a bit squeamish you have been warned LOL  
  
Note 2: yeah yeah get on with the story but just wanted to add a mega thank you for all the positive reviews, yes even the death threats ;)   
  
Ok now the story...  
*******  
  
Trance looked over Harper's mangled body, the copper smell filling the dusty air causing a wave of sickness to flow down to her stomach. Swallowing down a lump that was wedged within her throat, she slowly approached the bloody body of her best friend. Reaching gingerly forward, being careful not to disturb the debris that encircled him, she delicately pressed two fingers to his neck.  
  
Thump...Thump...  
  
A feeling of felicity filled every fibre of her being only to be dimmed when the pulse was weak. Misery started to seep into her once again as she knelt down, placing her cheek above his mouth, too scared to touch his chest and do further damage, and only felt a ragged shallow breath every other second.  
  
Standing up once again, blood staining her hands, she moved away, turning around in attempt to block the image. There was a pulse and he was breathing. He was alive. But both were weak and getting weaker.  
  
Turning back around to a sight that would haunt her mind in the future to come, she assessed his injuries, but without their backpacks, she would be able to provide no help.   
  
A large pile of debris covered his left leg from the knee down. She knew that it would take a miracle to make the leg one hundred percent again, even with the advanced medical equipment on Andromeda. His other leg wasn't in much better shape, as it appeared to have two new joints in it, one with the added attraction of a peep show to the bone inside. His favourite blue top that he had purchased a few weeks back on a drift they had visited, was now stained crimson and ripped into jagged strips, revealing a battered, deep purple mid-section and chest. Across his forehead there was a jagged, livid gash, oozing slightly with blood. To add to the gash, a violet, deep bruise covered the right side of his face, causing his eye to be swollen shut.   
  
But by far the most life threatening injury she could see was to his neck, more specifically his dataport*. It appeared to have taken a large amount of force as the area around it was sliced and ripped open, revealing a slightly metal tinge underneath. Blood dripped from the raw flesh and bubbled from the outer connection point.  
  
If the damage to the outer part of the dataport were as bad on the inside or worse, it wouldn't take a genius to know that it wouldn't matter if he breathed or his heart beat, the Harper they knew would be lost forever. The fragile dataport connections intertwined themselves into his brain. If some or even one were damaged, there would be possible irreparable damage to his mind.  
  
At times like this, she wished Rev Bem was here so he could call in a favour with the devine, as when she looked at the odds, there was only a minuscule chance that Harper would be just like he was before this ill fated trip and not much of a bigger chance that he would be alive at the end of this.   
  
Leaning heavily against a boulder, she slowly sunk down to her knees. She couldn't believe this was happening all over again. Things had been going so well: they were all alive and on Andromeda, the Commonwealth was slowly but surely growing. All had been going to plan and in a flash it was gone, spiralling downwards into oblivion, soon to be crashing and collapsing all over again. She would be back to where she started. She knew that her heart, never mind her mental well being, would never survive if she had to relive it all.  
  
She thought over the possible outcomes.  
  
The miracle to save his left leg was about as unlikely as Tyr not thinking of his own survival. So if she even managed to save his leg, there would be months of painful rehabilitation and even then it wouldn't be fully healed. He'd always walk with a slight limp and he wouldn't be able to do all the running and swinging about he does. Trance knew it would be a major blow to his confidence.  
  
The worse outcome by far that she saw could end in the unthinkable. The damage to his dataport could have a number of effects. There could be permanent or temporary brain damage - from having a little twitch, to not being able to talk, to becoming a living dead like state. The damage to the dataport might not be repairable, so it would have to stay clamped onto his neck, haunting and taunting him every time he saw his own reflection. Trance knew in her heart that it would kill him inside if he were unable to use it. Never once had Harper had second thoughts about the dataport once he got it: from the first time he used it and crammed every piece of knowledge he could find into his memory, to the present day when he preformed feats of engineering and even impressed some of the most intelligent perseids.  
  
If he did 'take things into his own hands', she knew exactly what would happen, as she had lived through it before. Beka would shut herself off to the world, never forgiving herself for what had happened to Harper even though it was not her fault. Rommie would become distant; Dylan would lose a large bit of his optimism towards his forming Commonwealth. And even Tyr, even though he did not show it to a great degree, would be affected.   
  
Lying down upon the cold, unforgiving ground, curling up slightly, she cried silently to herself as she watched the future unravel and crumpled before her, finally falling in to a fitful sleep.  
  
  
TBC...  
*Ok so nothing about how a dataport works and every thing you read is just my best guess :)  
  
There will be much more Harper in the next chapter, I promise. As much as I like Trance as a character, I much prefer to write Harper LOL  
  
Psst reviews make me write faster ;) I an unsure about my work, so if you DO like it PLEASE tell me! 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer:  See previous chapters…1 I think… 

Spoilers:  Aye but none from season 3 as far as I know.

Author's note:  Sorry for the long delay!  Writers block is a b*tch.  Plus school isn't being much help either, big exams next month *shudders*, real life sucks.  *mutters under breath* there would also be the parties and general hyper hanging out as well that might contribute a tiny bit *cough* :D so after long pondering and general head against wall whacking movement I got the next chapter.  Oh yeah THANK YOU! For all the great reviews for the last chapter, they really mean a lot to me :)  Ok so on with the story…

****

**Chapter 4**

Nothing.  That is my world.  No movement, no touch, no sound.  No sound…well there is those times where if I have the energy, in the distance, there are tiny almost inaudible voices.  I feel some how they have a connection to me in some way but I can't put my finger on it.  

******

"Good morning, how are we today?"

"Still not talking I see.  Ok, I'm going to clean you up a bit, it will sting only a little."

"Ok then maybe not."  A sigh, "You know what, I'm going to be honest for once.  Well I'm always honest I might just not tell the whole truth.  But this time I will.  I need you.  Beka needs you.  Rommie needs you.  Dylan and Tyr need you and not to add any pressure but the universe needs you as well.  I don't want to imagine what is going to happen if you die, but I know it will get really, really bad.  That is why you need to hang in there." A sniff, "please?"

******

"Trance?"

"Over here!  Hurry, he doesn't have long."

Gasps, and scrambling feet still.

"Oh my god…"

A female voice.  I recognise it but don't know how.

"Bring the medical bag over here quickly."

A beeping.

"Rommie, help get this boulder off his leg, careful, try not to move him."

"Ok lets get him to the Maru!"

******

A symphony of sound now fills my void.  Humming, beeping and the occasional visitors I get in the form of disembodied voices.  I don't find them frightening though, quite the opposite.  

******

"How is he doing?"

"Not good.  He's stable but I don't know how long for."

Silence.  

"What about his leg and dataport?"

"Myself and Andromeda have done everything we can, the medical equipment onboard simply isn't capable of treating his injuries.  If there's any hope for him surviving, we have to take him to Sintii as soon as possible."

A discouraged sigh.

"I'll tell Beka to set a course immediately.  Keep me posted."

******

"Little man, you have prevailed over much greater odds that were stacked against you; fight and beat this one.  I have fought the magog with you, side by side, armed only with a knife.  You survived the hell you lovingly call Earth.  As I've said before, there is fire in your blood.  You've used it before and it is now time to use it again."

"When you wake up, I will help you through this, I promise, and I will keep that promise for however long it takes Little man."

******

"Hey Shorty, me again.  Good news, we'll be at Sintii soon, so we'll get you all fixed up.  Bad news, place is dull without you around.  I think Tyr even misses your non-stop chattering and I'm sure Andromeda is a little sluggish since your little mishap and…"

"Trance!  He's waking up!"

"…Harper?"

TBC……..

Ok thought I'd try something new in this chapter, hope it was too painful hehe.  Drop me a buzz to tell me what you think if you have time :)  


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer:  See first chapter

A.N.:  Hello again.  Well next chapter dum! Dum! Dum!  As usual sorry for the delay, at the moment at school it's all study, test, study, exam then at home its all Smith!  Elrond!  15th! DSL!  So here I am writing that at the back of geography class while the teacher is prattling on about industry or something...Oh yeah thank you for the many lovely reviews, they are a bright spark in my dull boring life.

Chapter 5 

****

"Harper?  Seamus you with us?"  came Beka's anxious voice.

Opening his eyes against the sharp white light, his response to the query was a groan escaping from a dry and raw throat.  Blinking his eyes to clear at least a little of the sleep out of them, Harper opened them to see to worried faces peering down at him.

Startled at the unexpected sight, Harper bolted up on the bed, well it was more of a twitch to Beka and Trance.  However, to Harper, it felt as if a nano-torch had been taken to every nerve in his body, his head feeling as if it had the entire new Commonwealth pressing down on it.

"…owie…"  replied a raspy voice belonging to Harper whom was now regretting the genius move that was just made.

"Hey woah there, let Trance give you something for the pain before you start running anymore marathons…" Beka trailed off while laying a hand upon his chest to keep him from moving anymore, hoping that he did not pick up on her hesitation and glancing a worried look at Trance.

As a hiss from outside his field of vision cooled the raging flames, Harper had unfortunately picked up on Beka's faltering. 

'I've known her for about seven years and she still thinks I can't read her as easily as See Spot Run.  Okey dokey then Harper lets find out what they are not telling you.  Arms…ouch yup probably not that.  Hang on, Trance was with me, no she appears to be fine thank the devine, don't know what I would do if anything had happened to her I mean she's been shot I dunno twice?  So if she can survive that…Ok Mr Genius going off topic there.  Ok, head…yup, massive ongoing hammer attack on that so that's still there…could be that I guess…wait, leg, left leg…hello? Left leg, come in left leg…'

Beka watched on, merely a bystander to the show that played across Harper's bruised face.  Firstly the half asleep drugged look but she knew he was working out why she was tense.  She knew, even though she denied it, but Harper knew her better than anyone, in a weird way they were like brother and sister, always looking out for each other.  And then what she was dreading, the look of shock, then pure unhidden fear laid bare within his eyes, his mask crumbling.

'It's the magog incident all over again…' she thought.

"Beka!  Trance! My leg…what's wrong with it?  I can't feel it!  What's going on?"  Came Harper's panicked voice, pleading with anyone to give him an answer.

Trance looked over at Beka, took a deep breath and started on the delicate task.

"Shh, Harper, calm down.  Harper…" she started slowly, thinking over her words carefully, "You remember the planet?"

At Harper's slight nod, she sighed and continued, "Well I'm not sure how much you remember but there was an earthquake.  I was ok except for a couple of bumps but…" she swallowed to clear her suddenly dry throat, "but you weren't quite so lucky.  Your right leg was broken badly but can be fixed, your left leg on the other hand…and your dataport were extensively damaged…" she finished quietly, looking anywhere but his eyes.

Looking up she saw Harper gripping the blanket tightly, his knuckles white, his hands trembling a little.  While she still had the strength, she continued talking.

"We've done everything we can on Andromeda, but don't worry, we're on our way to Sintii where we'll get the best doctors for you.  It will all be fine," she replied not sure who she was trying to convince and hoping at the same time that more that his injuries would be fine.

"What happens if they can't fix it?" came Harper's quiet response after almost a minute of silence that seemed to last for eternity.

"We'll work that out _if_ that happens," she answered back quietly yet forcefully.

Seeing Harper's weak nod in acknowledgement of what she said she slowly went over to a different part of med-deck to run a test, to clean up, to do something to distract her.

Beka raised her eyes from the floor to once again look at Harper.  Wires, tubes and pads were connected to his body in an assortment of places, and looking into his eyes she could see them shining with a wetness that he wouldn't shed. 

"Harper…" she began but then stopped, unsure of what to say.

Knowing in her heart that he wouldn't say anything and had closed off to the outside world and would most likely like some privacy, she slowly turned towards the door.

"I'll see you later ok?" she said quietly to a silent Harper as she slowly walked out of the room, leaving behind a figure lying on a bed staring blankly at nothing with a lone tear running down his face.

TBC

Well?  If you liked it let me know if it isn't too much hassle.  Getting onto the nice really juicy angsty stuff now so next chapter should be whipped up quite soon ;)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer:  Off to the merry first chapter you go.

Author's note: - so guess where I wrote the, yup that's right, geography.  Amazing how looking through an exam paper will make you want to write an angst filled Harper fic ;)  

MEGA thank you for all the wonderful comments, you guys and dolls are great :D

Chapter 6 

****

Well, well, well, here I am in med deck.  Again.  I should just move my belongings here as I probably spend more time here than in my quarters.

Stupid tear.  I should be use to this.  I have after all been infested, electrocuted, fallen, been slammed against walls, beat up…Not only do I amaze other people with the numbers of times I've risked my neck, I amaze myself.  Oh yeah, how could I forget the time I got brain fried and jeger…

My dataport.  The amazing little piece of machinery that has allowed me to impress the socks off perseids, that is if they wear socks, if not, I impressed something off them.  The little metallic disk that I persuaded Beka to allow me to get…ok so I made her sign a contract when we both got a little too drunk after a successful deal on the Maru, so sue me.  

But I have never regretted getting it done, and no matter how Beak resisted before hand, I know she is glad I got it done as it opened up so many possibilities that a mud foot from Drago-Kazov Uber Land theme park like me could never have dreamt of.

And now it's going to kill me.

I know, I know, positive thinking!  The glass is half full!

Bull shit.  I know dataport technology; I know the ins and outs of it.  I know that if it gets damaged as bad as Trance was trying not to say, it's near impossible to fix.  And IF the patient does some how miraculously survive, they are most likely going to be left with worse brain damage than when they went in.  To make it just the all the more cosier, if the damaged is not fixed then it continues to advance till one day you're brain dead.  Nice way to go.  Oh, and you're also left with a useless hunk of metal on your neck.

And to make this Disney story complete, there's my left leg.  Oh look, there comes Harper, the guy with the dud dataport and the mangle leg!  Already hard enough to get girls as it is.  

So it's safe to say that I can kiss my surf board and hover board good bye.  Probably my job as well, an engineer with a broken dataport and can't get around the ship isn't going to be much use.  

AND to make this personal torture ten times worse they're probably going to cut off my supply of sparky cola as well…and I'm talking to myself.  Well, nothing different there.

"Harper, just to let you know, the perseid ship has landed in the launch bay and should be here in a few minutes."  Andromeda announces.

Oh look, my life just got better.

TBC

I know, it's even shorter than usual, don't kill me! ;)  Probably won't get much updating done for a while what with higher exams and multiple viewings of the matrix reloaded ;)  But I'll try getting a chapter here and there, but I won't have geography to write it in ;)


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